Sect

{{short description|Subgroup of a particular religious or ideological doctrine}}
{{About|religious groups|other uses|Sect (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|sex}}
{{Discrimination sidebar|state=collapsed}}
[[File:Prevailing religious population by country percentage.svg|thumb|300px|Major denominations and [[religions]] of the world]]
A '''sect''' is a subgroup of a [[religion|religious]], [[politics|political]], or [[philosophy|philosophical]] belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and principles. Sects are usually created due to perception of [[heresy]] by the subgroup and/or the larger group.

In an [[India]]n context, sect refers to an organized tradition.<ref name="sai.uni-heidelberg"/>

==Etymology==
[[File:Catalogue of Sects.GIF|thumb|right|280px|''A Catalogue of the Severall Sects and Opinions in England and other Nations: With a briefe Rehearsall of their false and dangerous Tenents''. Broadsheet. 1647]]
The word ''sect'' comes from the [[Latin]] noun ''secta'' (a feminine form of a variant past participle of the verb ''[[Wikt:sequi|sequi]]'', to follow) meaning "a way, road".<ref name=oel_sect>
{{cite web
| url         = https://www.etymonline.com/word/sect#etymonline_v_23088
| title       = sect (n.)
| work        = [[Online Etymology Dictionary]]
| publisher   = [[Douglas Harper]]
| access-date  = 10 May 2022
| quote       = mid-14c., "distinctive system of beliefs or observances; party or school within a religion," from Old French secte, sete "sect, religious community," or directly from Late Latin secta "religious group, sect in philosophy or religion," from Latin secta "manner, mode, following, school of thought," literally "a way, road, beaten path," from fem. of sectus, variant past participle of [[Wikt:sequi|sequi]] "follow," from PIE root *sekw- (1) "to follow." Confused in this sense with Latin secta, fem. past participle of secare "to cut" (from PIE root *sek- "to cut"). Meaning "separately organized religious body" is recorded from 1570s.}}</ref> Figuratively, sect refers to a (prescribed) way, mode, or manner. [[Metonym]]ously, sect refers to a discipline or school of thought as defined by a set of methods and doctrines. The many disparate usages of the word ''sect'' in modern times is largely due to confusion with the [[homonym]]ous (but etymologically unrelated) Latin word ''secta'' (the feminine form of the past participle of the verb ''[[Wikt:secare|secare]]'', to cut).

==Sociological definitions and descriptions==
{{Main|Church-sect typology}}
There are several different sociological definitions and descriptions for the term.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McCormick Maaga|first=Mary|title=Hearing the Voices of Jonestown|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=1998|isbn=0815605153|chapter=Three Groups in One|chapter-url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16596}}</ref> Among the first to define them were [[Max Weber]] and [[Ernst Troeltsch]] (1912). In the [[church-sect typology]], sects are defined as voluntary associations of religiously qualified persons:<ref name="Chalcraft">{{Cite book|last=Chalcraft|first=David J.|title=Sectarianism in Early Judaism: Sociological Advances|publisher=Equinox Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84553-083-9|editor-last=Chalcraft|editor-first=David J.|location=London, Oakville|pages=27|chapter=The Development of Weber’s Sociology of Sects: Encouraging a New Fascination}}</ref> membership is not ascribed at birth but results from the free acceptance of the sect's doctrine and discipline by the follower, and from the continuous acceptance of the follower by the sect. Sects tend to draw disproportionately from the underprivileged elements of society, and are usually created by schisms within churches, which are aligned with the dominant social structure.<ref name="Dawson2009">{{Cite book|last=Dawson|first=Lorne L.|url=|title=The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0199588961|editor-last=Clarke|editor-first=Peter B.|pages=|chapter=Church-sect-cult: Constructing Typologies of Religious Groups|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199588961.013.0030}}</ref> They are often decrying liberal trends in denominational development and advocating a return to true religion; their beliefs and practices tend to be more radical and ethically stern than those of churches, and constitute an act of protest against the values of the rest of society.<ref name="Dawson2009" /> The American [[sociology|sociologists]] [[Rodney Stark]] and [[William Sims Bainbridge]] assert that "sects claim to be authentic purged, refurbished version of the faith from which they split".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Stark|first1=Rodney|author-link=Rodney Stark|last2=Bainbridge|first2=William Sims|author-link2=William Sims Bainbridge|date=1979|title=Of Churches, Sects, and Cults: Preliminary Concepts for a Theory of Religious Movements|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1385935|journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion|volume=18|issue=2|at=125|doi=10.2307/1385935|jstor=1385935|issn=0021-8294}}</ref> They further assert that sects have, in contrast to churches, a high degree of tension with the surrounding society.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Stark|first1=Rodney|title=The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation|last2=Bainbridge|first2=William Sims|publisher=University of California Press|year=1985|isbn=0520048547|location=Berkeley|author-link=Rodney Stark|author-link2=William Sims Bainbridge}}</ref> Other sociologists of religion such as Fred Kniss have asserted that sectarianism is best described with regard to what a sect is in tension with. Some religious groups exist in tension only with co-religious groups of different ethnicities, or exist in tension with the whole of society rather than the church which the sect originated from.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Kniss|first1=Fred|title=Sacred Assemblies and Civic Engagement: How Religion Matters for America's Newest Immigrants|last2=Numrich|first2=Paul D.|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2007|isbn=9780813541709|location=New Brunswick, N.J.}}</ref>

[[Sectarianism]] is sometimes defined in the [[sociology of religion]] as a worldview that emphasizes the unique legitimacy of believers' creed and practices and that heightens tension with the larger society by engaging in boundary-maintaining practices.<ref>McGuire, Meredith B. "Religion: the Social Context" fifth edition (2002) {{ISBN|0-534-54126-7}} page 338</ref>

In his book ''[[The Road to Total Freedom]]'', the English sociologist [[Roy Wallis]]<ref>[[Eileen Barker|Barker, E]]. ''New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction'' (1990), Bernan Press, {{ISBN|0-11-340927-3}}</ref> argues that a sect is characterized by "[[epistemology|epistemological]] authoritarianism": sects possess some authoritative locus for the legitimate attribution of heresy. According to Wallis, "sects lay a claim to possess unique and privileged access to the truth or salvation" and "their committed adherents typically regard all those outside the confines of the collectivity as 'in error'". He contrasts this with a [[cult]] that he described as characterized by "epistemological individualism" by which he means that "the cult has no clear locus of final authority beyond the individual member."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wallis|first=Roy|url=https://archive.org/details/roadtototalfreed00wallrich/mode/2up|title=The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of Scientology|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1977|isbn=0-231-04200-0|location=New York|author-link=Roy Wallis|archive-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wallis|first=Roy|date=1975|title=Scientology: Therapeutic Cult to Religious Sect|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/003803857500900105|journal=Sociology|volume=9|issue=1|pages=89–100|doi=10.1177/003803857500900105|s2cid=144335265 |issn=0038-0385}}</ref>

==In other languages==
The corresponding words for "sect" in European languages other than English – ''Sekte'' (German), ''secte'' (French), ''secta'' (Spanish, Catalan), ''sectă'' (Romanian), ''setta'' (Italian),  ''seita'' (Portuguese, Galician), ''sekta'' (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, Latvian, Lithuanian), ''sekt'' (Danish, Estonian, Norwegian, Swedish), ''sekte'' (Dutch), ''szekta'' (Hungarian), ''секта'' (Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian), σέχτα (Greek) – refer to a harmful religious sect and translate into English as "[[cult]]".{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

==In Buddhism==
{{Main|Schools of Buddhism}}
[[File:Japanese buddhist monk by Arashiyama.JPG|thumb|Japanese buddhist monk from the [[Sōtō Zen]] sect]]
The ''Macmillan Encyclopedia of Religion'' distinguishes three types of classification of Buddhism, separated into "Movements", "Nikāyas" and "Doctrinal schools":

* Schools:
** [[Theravada]], primarily in [[South Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]];
** [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna]], primarily in [[East Asia]];
** [[Vajrayana|Vajrayāna]], primarily in [[Tibet]], [[Bhutan]], [[Nepal]], [[India]], [[Mongolia]] and the Russian republic of [[Kalmykia]].
* [[Nikāya]]s, or monastic fraternities, three of which survive at the present day:
** [[Theravada|Theravāda]], in [[Southeast Asia]] and [[South Asia]];
** [[Dharmaguptaka]], in [[China]], [[Korea]] and [[Vietnam]];
** [[Mulasarvastivada|Mūlasarvāstivāda]], in the Tibetan tradition;

==In Christianity==
{{see also|List of Christian denominations|Christian denomination}}
[[File:Prayer meeting Korpela movement 1935.jpg|thumb|Prayer meeting of the [[Korpela movement]] in 1935]]
While the historical usage of the term "sect" in [[Christendom]] has had [[pejorative]] connotations, referring to a group or movement with [[Heresy in Christianity|heretical]] beliefs or practices that deviate from those of groups considered orthodox,<ref>[[Bryan R. Wilson|Wilson, Bryan]] ''Religion in Sociological Perspective'' 1982, {{ISBN|0-19-826664-2}} [[Oxford University Press]] page 89<br />
"In English, it is a term that designates a religiously separated group, but in its historical usage in Christendom it carried a distinctly pejorative connotation. A sect was a movement committed to heretical beliefs and often to ritual acts and practices like isolation that departed from orthodox religious procedures."</ref><ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Sect and Sects}}</ref> its primary meaning is to indicate a community which has separated itself from the larger body from which its members came.

===Orthodox===
{{main article|Orthodoxy}}

===Roman Catholic sects===
{{main article|Independent Catholicism}}
There are many groups outside the Roman Catholic Church which regard themselves as Catholic, such as the [[Agnus Dei Community]], the [[Community of the Lady of All Nations]], the [[Palmarian Catholic Church]], the [[Philippine Independent Church]], the [[Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church]], the [[Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God]], [[Most Holy Family Monastery]], the [[Society of Saint Pius X]], the [[International Seminary of Saint Pius X]], the [[Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X]], [[Opus Dei]], [[Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen]], [[Society of Saint Pius V]], [[Apostles of Infinite Love]], [[Sedevacantism]], [[Institute of the Mother of Good Counsel]], and others.

===Protestant sects===
{{See also|List of the largest Protestant denominations}}

==In Hinduism==
{{Main|Hindu denominations|Sampradaya}}
[[File:Ganapati.1..JPG|thumb|[[Ganesha]] worshippers]]
The [[Indology|Indologist]] [[Axel Michaels]] writes in his book about [[Hinduism]] that in an Indian context the word "sect does not denote a split or excluded community, but rather an organized tradition, usually established by founder with ascetic practices."<ref name="sai.uni-heidelberg">{{cite book | title = Hinduism past and Present (2004) translated from German "Der Hinduismus" (1998)| first=Axel| last=Michaels| year=2004| author-link=Axel Michaels| publisher = Princeton University Press| isbn=0-691-08952-3}}</ref> According to Michaels, "Indian sects do not focus on heresy, since the lack of a center or a compulsory center makes this impossible – instead, the focus is on adherents and followers."<ref name="sai.uni-heidelberg"/>

==In Islam==
{{Main|Islamic schools and branches}}
{{See|Fiqh|Madhhab}}
Islam was classically divided into two major sects, known as [[Sunni Islam]] and [[Shia Islam]]. [[Kharijites|Kharijite]] and [[Murijite Islam]] were two early Islamic sects. Each sect developed several distinct jurisprudence systems reflecting their own understanding of the Islamic law during the course of the [[history of Islam]].

=== Current sects ===
Sunnis are separated into five ''[[maddhab]]s''; [[Hanafi]], [[Maliki]], [[Shafi'i]], [[Hanbali]] and [[Ẓāhirī]]. The Shia, on the other hand, first developed [[Kaysanites|Kaysanism]], which in turn divided into three major groupings known as [[Fiver (sect)|Fivers]], [[Seveners]] and [[Twelvers]]. The [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydis]] separated first. The non-Zaydis were initially called "[[Rafida]]". The Rafidis later divided into two sub-groups known as [[Imamiyyah]] and [[Batiniyyah]].<ref>[[Ahmed Cevdet Pasha]], ''Kısas-ı Enbiyâ,'' vol. II, page 12.</ref>

* The "[[Imami]]-[[Shi'a]]" later brought into existence [[Ja'fari jurisprudence]]. [[Akhbari]]sm, [[Usuli]]sm, and [[Shaykhism]] were all ensued as variations of "Ja'fari fiqh", while [[Alawites]] and [[Alevis]] who are not the strict followers of "Ja'farism" are developed separately from the teachings of ''[[Ithna'ashari]] [[Imām]]s.''[[File:Ghardaia02.jpg|thumb|[[M'zab]] valley in Sahara has been home of the [[Ibadi]] branch of Kharijte sect.]]
* [[Batiniyya]] groups, on the other hand, were divided into two sub-groups known as [[Sevener]]s and [[Ismā'īlī]]s. [[Qarmatians]] who did not follow the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] were branched from the [[Seveners]]. Those groups of [[Batiniyya]] who followed the [[Fatimids]] are the ancestors of today's [[Ismā'īlī]]s. [[Druze]] was emerged as an offshoot of Ismāʿīlism at the beginning of the 11th Century. [[Isma'ilism]] at the end of the 11th Century split into two major branches known as [[Nizārī Ismā'īlī]] ''([[Order of Assassins|Assassins]] of [[Alamut]])'' and [[Musta’li Ismaili]]. As a result of the assassination of [[Fatimid Caliph]] [[Al-Amir bi-Ahkami'l-Lah]], [[Mustaali]] was once more again divided into [[Hafizi]]s and [[Taiyabi Ismaili]]s ''([[Dawoodi Bohra|Dawoodis]], [[Sulaymani]]s and [[Alavi Bohra|Alavis]]).'' 
* The Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali Sunnis, the Twelver groups, the Ismā'īlī groups, the Zaydis, the Ibadis, and the Ẓāhirīs continue to exist. In addition, new sects like [[Islam in the United States#African American Muslim movements|Black Muslim movements]], [[Quranists]], [[Salafis]], [[Wahhabis]], and [[Zikris]] have been emerged independently.

=== Former sects ===
* The Khawarij were initially divided into five major branches: [[Sufri]]s, [[Azariqa]], [[Najdat]], Adjarites and [[Ibadi]]s.

=== Amman Message ===
{{main||Amman Message}}
{{further|Islamic denominations}}
An Islamic convention held in [[Jordan]] in July 2005, which brought 200 Muslim scholars from over 50 countries together, announced the official recognition of eight [[Madhhab|schools]] of [[Fiqh|Islamic jurisprudence]]<ref>[http://ammanmessage.com/ The Amman Message summary] – Official website</ref> and the varying [[schools of Islamic theology]].<ref name="3Points">[http://ammanmessage.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=91&Itemid=74 The Three Points of The Amman Message V.1]</ref> The eight recognized [[List of Islamic schools and branches|Islamic schools and branches]] are:
# [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[Hanafi]]
# Sunni [[Maliki]]
# Sunni [[Shafi'i]]
# Sunni [[Hanbali]]
# [[Shi'i]] [[Imamah (Shia doctrine)|Imāmī]] ''(followers of the [[Ja'fari jurisprudence]])''
# Shi'i [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]]
# [[Khawarij|Khariji]] [[Ibadi]]
# Sunni [[Ẓāhirī]]

==In Jainism==
{{Main|Jain schools and branches}}
==In Taoism==
{{Main|Taoist schools}}

==See also==
* [[Non-denominational Islam]]
* [[Non-denominational Christianity]]
* [[Non-denominational Judaism]]
* [[Classifications of religious movements]] 
* [[Cult (religious practice)]]
* [[New religious movement]]
* [[One true church]]
* [[Religious exclusivism]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/cstheory.htm Church sect theory] by William H. Swatos, Jr . in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society by Swatos (editor)
* [http://www.apologeticsindex.org/ Apologetics Index: research resources on cults, sects, and related issues.] The publisher operates from an evangelical Christian point of view, but the site links to and presents a variety of viewpoints.
* [http://www.religionnewsblog.com ReligionNewsBlog.com] Current news articles about religious cults, sects, and related issues.

{{Religion topics}}
{{New Religious Movements}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sects| ]]
[[Category:Sociology of religion]]
[[Category:Pejorative terms]]